More news from the far east: Muslims in Indonesia are basically flat out ignoring the latest fatwa on yoga (and smoking) with an air of “who cares?”
[regarding the smoking ban for minors and pregnant women]It didn’t matter that the clerics were providing sound health guidance. The council of clerics that interprets Sharia, or Islamic law, for the world’s largest Muslim population often leaves many shrugging their shoulders in confusion or disbelief.When about 700 members of the council handed down a fresh list of fatwas last week, they included ones on marriage to minors, cornea donations and yoga. As usual, most Indonesians blithely ignored the rulings.
“If a fatwa can’t be seen as solving a problem, it will only create more problems,” added the lecturer, who, like many Indonesians, uses only one name.
Why the blatant disregard?
Unlike more fundamentalist Islamic cultures such as Iran, where fatwas can be a life-or-death matter, most people in this overwhelmingly Muslim country of 237 million pay little attention because the edicts usually have little to do with what really matters to them, said Rumadi, a lecturer at an Islamic state university here.
If you remember though, yoga wasn’t banned in its entirety and Indonesians can still partake in practice sans chanting. But we wonder if they’re even heeding that rule?
Indonesians ignore religious edicts against smoking, yoga [LA Times]
Earlier…Yoga Ban Not Stopping Indonesian Yogis
more… Fatwa News
Okay then that means my smoking/yoga retreat is still a GO! If I can get 5 cig loving yogis to prepay, I go for free!!